Smokey the Bear helped legislation enforcement arrest a person for stealing his indicators from throughout Florida and promoting them on Fb Market.
The suspect was posting the indicators on Fb Market for $1,900 apiece, in response to Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson.
“What occurs when dumb criminals poke the bear?” Simpson wrote Wednesday on social media.
“Our Ag Legislation Workforce has a suspect in custody who traveled from Pensacola to Orlando stealing Smoky Bear indicators from our state forests and promoting them on Fb Market for $1,900 every,” he continued.
“Large thanks to Smokey the Bear for personally aiding within the arrest.”
The suspect, whose id was not launched, was transported to jail following his arrest.
Simpson mentioned the suspect might face jail time, though legal prices are nonetheless pending, in response to Fox 13.
“Smokey is all the time round our forest and simply obtained fortunate as we speak that he noticed the unhealthy man and obtained him handcuffed,” Simpson instructed the outlet.
“What an fool, what an fool.”
“[Smokey] goes to varsities, he’s identified by our youngsters, he’s identified by our households, he’s identified all through the USA,” Simpson added.
“Who goes and steals a picture of Smokey the Bear after which tries to revenue off of that?”
The state has boosted efforts to forestall forest fires, which destroyed 24,000 acres final yr.
The Agriculture Division, which has a legislation enforcement division, did 277,000 acres of managed burns final yr, spent $93 million on upgraded gear and dispatched Smokey to remind residents how they will stop forest fires, in response to Fox 13.
“When you’re going to go in and commit crimes in our forests, you in all probability have to discover a totally different place,” Simpson instructed the outlet.
“Not solely will you discover smoke in a few of these forests, however you’ll discover our automobile officers.”
“We’re probably the most pro-law enforcement state within the union,” he mentioned. “Smokey Bear is on the job additionally.”
